On the Writing of History

Charles Oman

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN:
  9781138188228
• eBook ISBN:
  9781317283560
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: Historiography
• Index: History

Written by one of the most eminent, (if sometimes disputed) historians of the 20th century, this book, originally published in 1939, gives guidance to the would-be historian on historical sources, research and evidence. Although inevitably a product of its time, this volume nonetheless remains one of the most comprehensive guides to historiograhy.

Index

A

Abbo, hit Latin poem, 51

Abdon, Hebrew judge, 82

Acton, Lord, his theories on history, viii, 27; his great library. 208-9

Adam, the patriarch, 46, 88, 262

'Aduliamitei,' the, 260

AErseu, legends about, 49; date attributed to him, 273

AEachines, 16

Agram Book, the, 204

Akhenaten, his heresy, 203

Alaric, his sack of Rome, i, 4, 167

Alexander the Great, a cataclysmic personage, 101-2; his military exploits, 134; legends concerning him, 268-9

Alexander V, Pope, 114

Alexander VI, Pope, 116, 213

Alfred, King, hit personality, 31; and literary activity, 45

America, results of discovery of, 75, 117, 148, 298; problems of, 181, 189

American Independence, War of, 161-2

Anagni, Papal election at, 113

Angleterre, Colonel Pillet's scurrilous book on, 182-4

Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, characteristics of the, 30, 35, 44, 45, 83, 272

Anna Comnena, Byzantine historian, 53

Annals, character of early, 33-5, 76

Antichrist, legends concerning, 89, 117, 128, 271

Antonines, age of the, iti character, 18, 104

Antony, Marcus, triumvir, 30, 136-7

Antony, St., his life in the desert, 91, 291

Apocryphal Gospels, the, 263, 279, 282-3

Apollo, the god, Christian views concerning, 290

Apollodorus of Artamita, lost historian, 22, 204

Ara Caeli, the legend of, 282

Arabs, before Mohammed, 132; their conquests, 167

Arabs of Palestine, origin of the, 193

Arbela, battle of, its importance, 168

Aretino, Pietro, 118

Argenson, Marquis, his memoirs, 61

Aristotle, his historical researches, 79-80, 203; mediaeval legends concerning, 260-71

Arnold, Thomas, Professor, 226-7

Arthur, King, legendary history of, 13, 267

'Aryans,' the, theories concerning, 126

Asgard, legends concerning, 265

Asser, his life of King Alfred, 51

Assyria, the Kings of, 24, 26, 101, 191, 195

Attila, his place in history, 177

Augustine, St., his theological and historical views, 109-10

Augustus Caesar, 93; a cataclysmic personage, 135-7; me...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Original Title
• Original Copyright
• Contents
• PREFACE
• I. WHAT IS HISTORY ?
• II. ON SOURCES AND EVIDENCE
• III. ON THE TESTING OF AUTHORITIES: (I) CHRONICLES AND NARRATIVE HISTORIES
• IV. ON THE TESTING OF AUTHORITIES: (2) AUTOBIOGRAPHIES, BIOGRAPHIES, MEMOIRS, LETTERS, ETC
• V. OF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE IN GENERAL
• VI. OF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE—THE PESSIMISTS AND THE OPTIMISTS
• VII. OF HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE—CONCERNING CATACLYSMS, POLITICAL AND MORAL
• VIII. OF INDIVIDUALS AND 'PROCESSES' IN HISTORY
• IX. A PLEA FOR MILITARY HISTORY
• X. ON HISTORY AS A HINDRANCE, AND POISONOUS HISTORY
• XI. CONCERNING RESEARCHERS AND RESEARCH
• XII. HISTORY AT OXFORD
• XIII. SOME HUMOURS OF HISTORY
• XIV. ON GENERAL LESSONS AND MORALS
• XV. INDEX